Has anyone tried using the IRS online account portal to respond to notices? I was able to upload documents directly for an audit last year without dealing with mail or fax. Not sure if it works for all types of notices though.

I just went through this exact situation last month with a 1098-T response! I ended up choosing FAX and I'm glad I did. Here's what worked for me: I went to a UPS Store (they have reliable fax machines) and made sure to get a transmission confirmation report that shows the date, time, and confirmation that all pages went through successfully. The key thing I learned is to call the fax number first to make sure it's working - some IRS fax lines go down periodically for maintenance. One tip that saved me: I included a cover sheet with my SSN, notice number, and contact phone number on every single page of the document, not just the cover sheet. This way if pages get separated in their system, each page can still be matched to my case. The whole process took about 15 minutes at UPS Store (cost me $2 per page), and I got confirmation from the IRS three weeks later that they received it and processed my amended return. My refund was issued about 6 weeks after that. Since you're expecting a $4K refund, I'd definitely recommend the FAX route for speed, but make absolutely sure you keep that transmission confirmation as your proof of timely filing!

Just wanted to add that I'm a small seller too (I sell custom dog bandanas) and I keep a super detailed spreadsheet of all my income and expenses throughout the year. Even without a 1099-K, if you get audited, the IRS will look at your bank deposits and payment app history. Better to report everything properly and pay the taxes than risk penalties and interest later!

fyi i didnt report my etsy income last year (about 5k) and nothing happened. the irs has bigger fish to fry than small sellers. just sayin

I'm a little confused... I took out a 401k loan in 2023 and I swear I got some kind of form for my taxes?? But maybe I'm mixing it up with somethin else?

Empower is absolutely correct! You don't need a 1099-R for a 401k loan as long as you're making the required payments on schedule. A loan from your 401k isn't considered a taxable distribution - you're essentially borrowing your own money and paying it back with interest (which goes back into your account). The TurboTax prompts you're seeing are standard questions that appear for everyone to make sure they haven't missed any retirement account distributions. Since a 401k loan isn't a distribution, you can safely answer that you didn't receive a 1099-R related to this transaction. Just keep making your loan payments as agreed and you won't have any tax implications. The only time you'd get a 1099-R is if you default on the loan or fail to repay it according to the terms - then the outstanding balance would be treated as a taxable distribution.

Just to give you some peace of mind - I made exactly this mistake last year with my brother's inherited IRA. My financial advisor incorrectly rolled it into a regular IRA in my name. We caught it about 3 months later. We were able to get it fully corrected by having both financial institutions treat it as an "eligible rollover error" and essentially reverse the transaction, then properly set up an inherited IRA. The key was getting both institutions to acknowledge in writing that this was their administrative error, not my intentional action. The whole process took about 6 weeks, but everything was fixed with no tax consequences. Document everything, be persistent, and don't take "we can't fix this" for an answer!

I work in estate planning and see this mistake unfortunately often. Your advisor made a significant error - non-spouse beneficiaries absolutely cannot roll inherited IRAs into their own traditional IRAs. This is one of the most basic rules in retirement account inheritance. The good news is this can definitely be fixed, but you need to act quickly. Here's exactly what you should do: 1. Contact your new advisor immediately and demand they acknowledge this was their error in writing 2. Call both financial institutions (old and new) and explain this was an "administrative error in rollover processing" 3. Request they process this as a "return of mistaken distribution" under Revenue Procedure 2016-47 4. Insist the funds be moved to a properly titled inherited IRA account Since you're within a reasonable timeframe (2 months), most institutions will cooperate to fix this, especially when it's clearly advisor error. Make sure the correction shows the account as "[Your Name] as beneficiary of [Father's Name] IRA" or similar inherited IRA titling. Don't let your advisor blame you or claim this is "just as good" - it's not. An improperly rolled inherited IRA could trigger taxation on the entire balance plus potential penalties. Document every conversation and get all agreements to fix this in writing. If they refuse to help correct their mistake, escalate to their compliance department immediately.

Has anyone dealt with this for state returns specifically? My federal return was accepted but my state (California) was rejected, and I owe on both. Should I still pay the state amount even though the return was rejected?

Just want to add some additional peace of mind for anyone in this situation - the IRS has actually improved their e-file rejection process over the past few years. Most rejections happen within 24-48 hours of submission, so you'll know pretty quickly if there's an issue. If your return does get rejected, don't forget to check your email AND your tax software account for the rejection notice. Sometimes people miss the notification and think their return is still processing when it was actually rejected days ago. Also, keep records of your payment confirmation numbers when you pay online, even if your return is rejected. This will help you track that the payment was made on time if you ever need to dispute penalties later. The IRS and state systems are pretty good about matching payments to returns once the corrected filing is accepted.